London Photos!

The long-awaited London photos!

This is right after we got to the Rohrer's. Carol made us crackers and cheese. Sigh. It was incredible.

Check out that yard. Clay was happy to find a recliner.

London! More cheese :)

And pastry.

There's the view we have all been waiting for.... It was truly wonderful to be in that famous city.

A picture for Clint re-creating his hotdog-hat picture from the rodeo.

So busy!

That night we saw Wicked.

We went for a walk with Carol, and Clay really liked this sign. They are so polite and witty :)

The old 1300s house we visited had a moat!!

"We love it here!" She is so cute.


This is the view from the top of the hill. Such beautiful greens! We were so happy to see this side of England.



On the public footpaths, they are very accommodating to 4 legged friends.

Beautiful.

The 3 travelers. Thanks for showing us your world, Carol!

And so it begins.

March 16 11:30 pm

Engis, Belgium

Whew. Ok, guys. I am having a moment, here. Snuggled into our hideaway bed in our room nestled under the roof of this precious Belgian house, thinking about all the ways God smiled on us in the last 24 hours. How dark and non-dimensional life must be without a God who walks with you. I sit here overwhelmed.

So we got up EARLY to leave the Rohrers (was that really just this morning??!) and took a taxi to Gatwick to catch our flight to Brussels. We had specifically booked with British Airways because of their lower charges for excess baggage (which we just happen to be experts in- so many bags!), but when we checked in, we were told that it was a shared flight with Brussels Air, and thus fell under their bag limit/weight rules. There was a little bit of internal panic at this point- we could be talking a lot of money here. We were allowed 40 kilos but had almost 160 kilos! At 15 Euro/kilo, well, you do the math. I am standing back and praying at this point. God is more than capable of anything, but even I was already making peace with spending almost $2000 to get our bags on the plane.

Do you know what happened?! I am started to not be surprised when God does the unbelievable (a good idea, yes?).

The guy does some quick math on his cell phone and asks Clay, "Could you pay for 40 kilos?" To which Clay responds with an astonished "Yes, and can I kiss your sweet British feet?" (not his exact words) So, bottom line, we ended up paying less than we would have with the original British Airways rates. We literally floated to the gate. We have a God who cares about the most mundane parts of our lives. And he often makes them spectacular just by showing up himself.

The flight was short- not even enough time for 2 Seinfelds. We landed, recovered all of our bags (thanks for the prayers on that), and met Daniel (our Belgian director), who took us to his house for lunch. The whole team was there, and it was soooo good to finally be in a room with all of them. We had some good laughs and planned out the rest of the week. On a side note, we joined Daniel's wife on a trip to the store and were very pleased with everything. I can't wait to get in my own kitchen and cook!

After lunch, Daniel took us to Blanca and Michael's house, where we will be staying until we find an apartment (a process that could take 3 weeks give or take). They are the sweetest little family. They have a little 17 month old named Sophia that completely melts us. Blanca is from Colombia and Michael is from around here. That's right. We are communicating in a mix of Spanish and French. It is a blast! I was just thinking about our dinner conversation, and was struck by the fact that in my memory, it all makes sense (well most of it anyways J ), yet none of it was in English (I mean Ingles… I mean Anglais… Ok, now I am just being annoying.) It really is cool, and we are so thankful to God again for his perfect planning in providing a family for us that we can actually communicate with.

Tomorrow we are going into Huy to find Belgian cell phones and perhaps do some apartment hunting. Amy, our team leader, will be guiding us. I am looking forward to entering Huy. After waiting for something so long, it will feel surreal to actually be there!

That was long, but there is just so much to say! God is really showing himself to us these days. It encourages me to give him the opportunities to.

PS I am so thankful for my great-aunties who got me these warm polka-dotted pjs. I think of you every time I wear them. It means a lot to me that you are keeping me warm from afar.

Belgium tomorrow!

Today is our last day in the UK for tomorrow we head to Belgium! Our flight is at 7:45am (3am for most of you guys), and we arrive in Brussels at 9:45am (3:45am for you- Belgium is 6 hours ahead). Can you believe we will finally be there?! We are excited.

 

Today we are going to Rye with Larry and Carol. We may even catch a glimpse of the beach! I really cannot wait to get some pictures on here. It is so beautiful! We walked around a house yesterday that was built in the 1300s!! I am blown away.

 

Please be praying for us as we embark for Belgium tomorrow. I am sure the next days and weeks will be something else! Lots of laughing and crying I would imagine :)

Little note

We are about to head out for another fun day with tour guide Carol at the helm, but I wanted to pop in for a bit. Yesterday was such a blast! Clay and I went back into London, saw the sites that we wanted to see (Trafalgar Square is something else), and then saw Wicked, which was incredible. We then navigated the train system all by ourselves which made me feel very big :) It also made me feel very American in my desire for SPACE. The trains get packed! I spent the ride listening to the girl's ipod next to me... through the headphones on her head :)

A random note- we tried mussels for the first time! And they were so good.

Enjoy your day, All!

London!

We found an Apple Store and hopped off our London bus tour to check it out. Surprise surprise, right? :) We had a great dinner and a good night's sleep and are ready to discover London! It has been great so far. Lots of laughter because we are such lame tourists. We are on this bus tour that lets you get on a off as you please all day. The problem with that is that I forget to take off my headphones. So picture me, walking on the posh streets of London, trying to look posh myself, with a headphone cord swinging and hitting my leg with every step. Rats!

One cool thing we discovered is that the years ago the Rohrer's took one of our kittens, and that cat is HERE with them. Imagine my happiness upon arrival when seeing a Pasche kitty waiting for me :) God is sweet to me.

We are having a blast! I am not sure when pictures will make it, but rest assured they are being taken. I will have them up when I am able. Love to you! Thank you for the prayers.

We're here!!! We made it to London and Larry and Carol picked us and brought us to their home- which is amazing. It is just what we all imagine when we think of living in England. And all of our bags made it!!

We are very tired so that's all for now. We are very happy to be here. Love to all of you on the other side of the ocean!

There are no words...

Well, maybe a few. But mostly pictures. More than usual for the recent days have been memory makers.

Yesterday morning I left the Sandoz's house and drove straight to Anna's where she an Katie were waiting. How I will miss my girls!!

Then, moving day commenced.

Some help from the bros.

A lot of my stuff is now stowed at Gma's. I am so thankful that she and MiMi made room for it. Sheesh- who knew we had so much stuff?? And after the mega garage sale last summer. I really can't believe it.


Then, a birthday lunch at the Sandoz's. Here you see a man who loves to grill for those he loves. And those he loves love when he grills :)

Gma tried fried sweet potatoes for the first time.

Katherine came! It was so good to see her!

Mom will kill me, but I love this shot of us eating ribs. They were sooooo good!

The Meadows came!


Look at Cason's face! Sweetest little love!

Then, home for some Pasche time.

You can guess what we did.....

And Dad FINALLY won a game of Settlers! It was awesome.

Look at this victory pose. He is very happy indeed. Q on the other hand was about to win himself, thus the face.

I love when my brothers are all home. (I also have to nerdily point out my new flash that was used here. So awesome. I am loving it. I can't wait to have time to actually play with it!)

Lunch today after church.

And we are down to the serious packing now!

Everyone helped us stuff our mail outs. Except little Q who wasn't feeling well. Let me tell you, he got out of a LOT of moving today by being sick. From our house to my parents, to Grandma's... it was nuts.


And here we are, almost 2 am, finally turning in. I spent some time trying to make Mom's house presentable again after my whirlwind of stuff blew through. It's better, but not quite there.

The goodbyes today were hard, but as the day wore on, they got easier as the exhaustion really kicked in. Thankfully Clint, Mel, and Rob hung around all day so the actual goodbye wasn't too bad. And Neil's goodbye after lunch was a good one too. I am so thankful to God for carrying us through! It looks like we might actually get to Europe tomorrow!!

Our flight is at 5pm tomorrow, and we land Tuesday at 7am in London. We are looking forward to our time with the Rohrers and RELAXING. Sigh. I think it will be incredible.

Happy Birthday Clay!

He's 25 today! Last night Phil and Tracy took us to Taste of Texas- so good!! Texas steak will be missed in Europe, I am sure. And the dessert! It was one of the few times where I was happy there was a birthday at my table. No embarrassing song, just a really good Snickers cake. Today, we are having a "pork out": ribs, chops, and sausage a la Phil Sandoz. So, yes, basically, we are eating as much good meat as possible before we leave :) All the family will be here, even Rob, and Clint and Mel, so I am really looking forward to being with everybody.

Yesterday, we got a visit from the Seabourns! We got to know their family at CIT (training) last fall in North Carolina, and it was so good to see them again!

There is just something about being with other people that are in the same boat we are. We had a great talk, and the kids were absolutely precious! It was somewhat easier to say goodbye to them at the end of their visit knowing that the next time we see them will more than likely be across the world- how exciting!


In other news, we got to go to Q's track meet on Thursday. Oh, my little long jumper... so great. One of the things I am most thankful for during this time of waiting has been spending so much time with my Quinn. He is truly a delight- isn't it wonderful when "kids" turn into "real people"? That may sound insulting :) What I mean is that Q has his own sense of humor now. And he has quirks and new expressions that are glimpses of "him." I love it. Hope he's not reading this. He will be embarrassed :) When he was a baby, I used to walk him up and down the porch when Mom was cooking dinner. He always got fussy around that time. And I would sing song-upon-song to my little red-headed brother. What a joy to know and love him all this time.


I have been nostalgic of late :) Bear with me. Happy birthday, Clay! I look forward to traveling the world with you.

Lots and lots.

This is me trying to take a picture of myself jumping from hay bale to hay bale. I am giggling typing this. Imagine trying to jump up on a hay bale and then prance around for a picture all in the time it takes a camera timer to go off. It didn't exactly go as planned. But it made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. Lame, Megan, LAME! P.S. Do you know how hard it is to jump up on a hay bale? They are like 10 ft. tall!! Also, this picture would be so much cuter if it was a little child and not a grown woman. Why do I do these things? (Hatch, for some reason, I think you will like this story)

Whew. This moving and leaving stuff is hard business. The house is getting packed up little by little. Thankfully Mom took off work today and a half day tomorrow to help get me rolling. Such a good mama. The hardest thing with packing is to START. Oh, and then to finish. See, I find myself starting little projects all over the house and not finishing any of them. Lots of half-packed boxes. Lots of Valentines candy wrappers, too :) This afternoon found me sitting on the bedroom floor making little felt jewelry pouches. I needed some crafting to calm me. Sigh. Give me some embroidery floss and I am a happy girl. And it was kind of permissible crafting, too, as I needed some soft packing for my jewelry. It was just what I needed to relax. Felt is one of my best friends :)

I find as the leave date approaches I am turning into a bit of a recluse. Sometimes I feel like I lack the emotional energy to even make eye contact- kind of a survival mode, I guess. I am this swirl of excitement, sadness, nostalgia, and nerves. Sometimes avoiding people just to avoid the goodbyes. I feel like a water bucket that is down to its last drop (and I am seriously looking forward to London as a time to fill back up again before heading to Belgium).

Yikes, that all seems kind of morose, doesn't it? Perhaps. But it's where I am. I'm not alone, though. I know He was sitting right there on the floor with me today. I may be a dry water bucket, but sometimes it feels like he is ringing out a big sponge of the purest, cleanest water over my head. How refreshing to know that I don't have to "be" because he already IS.

TBC Sendoff

On Sunday the elders led the church in commissioning us to Belgium.

Our supporting churches, Austin Ridge and Tomball Bible Churches, are so wonderful. We are so thankful to have them behind us and look forward to being an extension of their ministy in Belgium.